AWAKE & DREAMING: Tattoo Crazy

I have tried to find a tattoo artist in my area to no avail. Wanting to have a tattoo for so many years (since I was 16) any references or pictures of tattoos are disected & scrutinized by me to the nth degree. I must say that I hate the type of tattoos which seem a dirty black-green mess and the owner of the tattoo looks like he hasn't had a bath in a very long time. A tattoo can be artistic & expressionistic to the beholder and the owner. It can mean something to the person who wears it like a logo to show to the world. The most popular kinds of tattoos are ones with skull heads or hearts (with a dagger or an arrow usually pericing through it). So many sports fans will also tattoo the logo of their favourite football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey or american football team on them as well. If you are a die-hard fan of a famous rock band it is likely that their symbol will be impreinted on you. The area just beneath the shoulder is the one place that is the most popular to have a tattoo, cause you can easily show it off while wearing a cut-off tee.

Miami Ink is a new Reality tv show (shown in India on Discovery's Travel & Living sister channel) which features four established tattoo artists who open a shop in Miami. They also have a Japanese apprententise who is learning the tricks of the trade from on of the artists. It is a good series but this is another one that makes me wonder how much is "reality" in "reality shows"! The confrontrations, jokes, dialogues & characters who pop-in and out of the shop are so scripted and so cliche! Hey, don't get me wrong, I like this show because of the content and the obvious talented mastery of the four artists but....

1. Where else in the world would you see girls who get a tattoo done and then hug the guy who just did the inking before theyr left the shop? Why would you want to do that? Just because there is a camera crew in front of you!

2. How come every episode they have a customer who has had a bad time or problem in their life and have now overcome it and now wants to get a tattoo as a symbol of it? Why can't there be a guy or a girl who just wants a cool design on his/her skin?

3. Their apprentise, Yogi, is often tormented by his mentors and a few jokes were made. But ofcourse when it is time for Yoji to propose to his pregnant wife and get married and have a kid, the four rally around him like he was "FAMILY". That often said word in reality shows!!sigh

4. You will find, from time to time, a person who has had to overcome physical (medical) barriers in his lifetime and who comes into the shop and "inspires" the tattoo artists to come up with a brilliant design with a specific meaning. Last week I saw a guy called "Murderball" who is a wheel-chair athlete (and sports a deadly big tattoo). His kind will be more in number soon.

5. Everyone has a story - "I lost my friend to a drunk driving accident", "My brother committed suicide", "I lost my mom" etc. Are these really genuine or made up? If they are genuine, how come they all decided to get a tattoo in a parlour that just happens to be being filmed?

Despite all this, I really do like the show - only because I want to see cool designs of tattoos that I will never sport on my arms. I think I would want the image of COUNT ROSHCULLA that I had designed. Maybe Pearl Jam's stick man figure, or Our Lady Peace's logo. A skullhead is the way to go! Peace all of you; go tattoo the earth!!